| Rick Isaiah Baxter | |
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 Rick Baxter official portrait |
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| Born | July 18 1979  Jackson County U.S. |
| Occupation | Businessman and Chairman of the Jackson County Republican Party |
| Spouse | Erica Ann |
| Children | Isaac Isaiah, Rachel Ann, & Seth Alexander |
Rick Baxter is a businessman and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. His political career started from 2003 - 2004 at the age of 23, when he served as a county commissioner for the County of Jackson, Michigan. Later, from 2005 - 2006 at the age of 25, he served as a Republican in the Michigan House of Representatives for the 64th district, representing Jackson County. In 2007, after serving as a State Representative, he was elected chairman of the Jackson County Republican Party. During that time he also worked as District Director for Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI). In October of 2007 he left the Congressman's office to take over his family's business, Baxter Machine.
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Elections & Public Service
Baxter's first campaign was in 2002 when he ran for the Jackson County (Michigan) Commission. He defeated the two-term incumbent Republican county commissioner in the primary and went on to win the seat, unopposed, in November. Baxter's first major action, in 2003, as a County Commissioner that drew much attention was when he proposed the "Sanctity of Marriage” Resolution, in the County of Jackson. This resolution, obviously, was a polarizing element in the State of Michigan at the time. In the end the resolution passed by one vote. In 2004, Baxter ran for an open seat for State Representative. He defeated two other Republicans in the primary. The general election also included a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as "Between one-man and one-woman." Many believe that issue brought enough social conservatives to the polls to help in close elections such as Baxter's. Baxter went on to win a very tight race, winning by 358 votes out of a total of 37,714. For his next re-election, in 2006, he was challenged in the primary by a formally defeated fellow Republican. Baxter easily defeated him with over 65% of the vote but went on to lose his re-election bid in the general. Both parties combined spent almost 1.5 million dollars for their candidates in 2006. That race, to date, was the most expensive State Representative race in Jackson County's history.
Party Chair
Since 2007 Baxter has served as chair of the Jackson County Republican Party. During that time he has completely reorganized the local party by rewriting their by-laws and consolidating their committees to be more broad and effective. In his first major act as county chair he chaired the committee responsible for the party's major fundraiser of the year. The event's keynote speaker was Karl Rove and under Baxter's leadership the event raised over $20,000, well over double what any preceding event had raised. Chairman Baxter continues to lead the organization and plans to continue the organization's focus on fundraising. In 2008 he has stated he plans to organize the Party to work more closely with candidates to share costs, strategies, and resources.
Businessman
In 1997 Baxter started to work for his family's manufacturing business Baxter Machine. He began as an office assistant being promoted through the years to the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2003. He left the company to become State Representative in 2005. In 2007 he left his position with Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) to train to take over his father's position as CEO of Baxter Machine.
Electoral history
- 2006 State House (64) General Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 47.4%
- Martin Griffin (D), 52.6%
- 2006 State House (64) Primary Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 65.3%
- Bob Ross (R), 34.7%
- 2004 State House (64) General Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 49.8%
- Martin Griffin (D), 48.8%
- Bob Ross Write-In, 1.3%
- 2004 State House (64) Primary Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 44.3%
- Bob Ross (R), 28.8%
- Jon Williams (R), 26.8%
- 2002 Jackson County Commission (05) Primary Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 40.2%
- Alan Miltich (R), 32.4%
- Judy Reynolds (R), 23.0%
- Trish O'Shea (R), 4.4%
